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Browse news articles about J-PAL and our affiliated professors, and read our press releases and monthly global and research newsletters. For media inquiries, please email us.

Effectively Targeting Anti-Poverty Programs in Indonesia

Vivi Alatas
Julia Tobias
Researchers in Indonesia compared the effectiveness of two methods of identifying the low-income households: a community method where villagers ranked households according to perceived wealth, and a proxy-means test which relied on measures of consumption and assets. The community methods of...

Moving to Opportunity or Isolation? Network Effects of a Slum Relocation Program in India

Sharon Barnhardt
To test this theory, researchers examined results of a housing lottery to measure the impact of relocation on slum residents. They found that offering subsidized suburban housing resulted in neither comprehensive take-up nor higher family income, suggesting that the benefits of improved housing were...

Community Engagement’s Impact on Healthcare Utilization and Health Insurance Enrollment in Ghana

Stephen Duku
Christine Fenenga
Wendy Janssens
Edward Nketiah-Amponsah
Researchers in Ghana evaluated the impact of community-led assessments on health insurance enrollment as well as healthcare and health insurance quality. The community engagement intervention improved the medical quality of healthcare, reduced community members’ chances of getting sick, and...

Temporary Labor Migration as Mitigation: Strategies for Managing Seasonal Famine in Bangladesh

Can monetary incentives induce rural farmers to migrate to cities and pursue seasonal labor opportunities during times of famine?

Information Campaign to Reduce Plastic Bag Consumption in Supermarkets in Mexico

Alberto Chong
Jeremy Shapiro
This evaluation measured the impact of different in-store information campaigns on the consumption of plastic shopping bags and the sale of reusable bags in grocery stores across Mexico. The information campaigns did not significantly reduce plastic bag consumption or increase the sale of the...